flight suit - olive drab vs sage green?

[spree610]

Hey folks,

New guy here. I've been researching flight suits since I moving into Air Crew. Has there been any discussion about the olive drab (OD) AF style flight suit vs the modern sage green version color-wise? Seems most vendors only carry sage green these days (even Propper) and I'm only finding the OD color on old surplus sites or eBay and M39-1 specifically says Olive Drab.

So what are the current thoughts? Is there really a color difference? Is Sage green acceptable?

Thanks.

[Abby.L]

Honestly, I don't think most people(Myself included) have even realized that there were two different colors. My mild-mannered AD Air Force alter ego wears the(What I'm guessing to be) sage green one, though I've thought about commandeering one to outfit it for CAP use.

To be honest, the flight suit looks fairly "OD Green" to me.

[Eclipse]

Standing next to a modern one you can see the difference.  The older ones also tend to have thicker material and an occasional
unusual pocket or epaulets.

Since you don't actually need a flight suit anyway, your best bet if you're going to get one is look like everyone else.

That or get a blue one.

[jeders]

I just realized that the new 39-1 specifies O.D. green; I honestly don't remember if the old 39-1 specified OD as well. Regardless, it's wrong.

The CWU-27/P comes in several colors, but none of them are O.D. green. The standard is sage green and that's what you should get. You can find them on eBay for very little ($20-30). You can also find new CWU-27/P Style flightsuits for $50.00, note that these are not Nomex.

As an interesting note, while the Propper flight suit doesn't come in OD green, they do have an option for Freedom Green.

ETA: The MILSPEC for flight suits from 1979 does specify that the CWU-27/P will be sage green, USAF color shade No. 1565.

[AlphaSigOU]

Standing next to a modern one you can see the difference.  The older ones also tend to have thicker material and an occasional
unusual pocket or epaulets.

Since you don't actually need a flight suit anyway, your best bet if you're going to get one is look like everyone else.

That or get a blue one.

The green bag with the perma-creases, 'happy pockets' and epaulets is the short-lived McPeak zoom bag aberration and is no longer used. The current bag is the CWU-27/P. It originally came in OD green, later changed to sage green and the newest issue is the Freedom Green which matches better the color on the Nomex jacket (CWU-45/P and CWU-36/P).

[Flying Pig]

Put the two together and there is a difference.  We use the sage green at work.  The old, OD Green just looks dirty and it fades to yellowish tint after a while if you are in a place with a lot of sun.

[Okayish Aviator]

I'm wondering if they will also start allowing the desert tan shirts with the flight suits... I know they sure are cooler than black, especially in the Florida sun. I'll take anything I can get to stay cool.

[Eclipse]

Olive Drab                                                                 Freedom green, which to my eyes actually has some gray in it.

[spree610]

Yeah that's quite a color difference.


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[Flying Pig]

Olive Drab                                                                 Freedom green, which to my eyes actually has some gray in it.

The bottom one is accurate, but the top one the pot smoking stoner is wearing isn't sage green.  That's not even an American flight suit.

[GaryVC]

The olive drab flight suites were made of cotton and were lighter in color than the current ones. They were replaced sometime in the 1960s.

[Hawk200]

Olive Drab                                                                 Freedom green, which to my eyes actually has some gray in it.

The bottom one is accurate, but the top one the pot smoking stoner is wearing isn't sage green.  That's not even an American flight suit.

At first look, it seemed more like a tanker suit that someone sewed a piece of Velcro. Second look, I don't know what it is.

[AirAux]

The one without the guy in it looks like the sage green I wore in the Army in the late 60's...

[Al Sayre]

The one on the left looks like a Chinese knock-off and it's pretty shiny for nomex or aramid fiber.

[NIN]

One of the guys in my unit has the suit on the left.

Its... weird.

its almost like someone made a knock-off of the regular USAF flight suit by listening to someone describe the original flight suit to him over the phone.

The cut of the suit is weird.
The chest pockets are weird.
The color is "off"
the velcro is "off"

[grunt82abn]

One of the guys in my unit has the suit on the left.

Its... weird.

its almost like someone made a knock-off of the regular USAF flight suit by listening to someone describe the original flight suit to him over the phone.

The cut of the suit is weird.
The chest pockets are weird.
The color is "off"
the velcro is "off"

It looks more like a Combat Vehicle Crew Suit that I used to wear when I was on a M109A6 Paladin.

[PHall]

One of the guys in my unit has the suit on the left.

Its... weird.

its almost like someone made a knock-off of the regular USAF flight suit by listening to someone describe the original flight suit to him over the phone.

The cut of the suit is weird.
The chest pockets are weird.
The color is "off"
the velcro is "off"

It looks more like a Combat Vehicle Crew Suit that I used to wear when I was on a M109A6 Paladin.

Don't those have the "handles" so you can be pulled out of your burning vehicle?
Because I don't see them on this one.

[grunt82abn]

One of the guys in my unit has the suit on the left.

Its... weird.

its almost like someone made a knock-off of the regular USAF flight suit by listening to someone describe the original flight suit to him over the phone.

The cut of the suit is weird.
The chest pockets are weird.
The color is "off"
the velcro is "off"

It looks more like a Combat Vehicle Crew Suit that I used to wear when I was on a M109A6 Paladin.

Don't those have the "handles" so you can be pulled out of your burning vehicle?
Because I don't see them on this one.

The newer ones have handles, I believe that started 2009.

[NIN]

One of the guys in my unit has the suit on the left.

Its... weird.

its almost like someone made a knock-off of the regular USAF flight suit by listening to someone describe the original flight suit to him over the phone.

The cut of the suit is weird.
The chest pockets are weird.
The color is "off"
the velcro is "off"

It looks more like a Combat Vehicle Crew Suit that I used to wear when I was on a M109A6 Paladin.

Definitely not a CVCU

[grunt82abn]

One of the guys in my unit has the suit on the left.

Its... weird.

its almost like someone made a knock-off of the regular USAF flight suit by listening to someone describe the original flight suit to him over the phone.

The cut of the suit is weird.
The chest pockets are weird.
The color is "off"
the velcro is "off"

It looks more like a Combat Vehicle Crew Suit that I used to wear when I was on a M109A6 Paladin.

Definitely not a CVCU

Cool


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